AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



nomic importance. The carbon dioxide gas of 

 the air is as important to plant growth as is 

 water, but it is present in such great abundance 

 that it has no value placed upon it and hence does 

 not enter into the list of economic conditions 

 which require our attention. 



All of these physical and chemical conditions 

 of plant growth are usually included under "the 

 fertility of the land." 1 And as it varies greatly 

 with respect to these conditions, land is said to 

 vary from place to place with respect to its fer- 

 tility. 



When a man contemplates the purchase of a 

 farm there is one thing more which is of vital 

 importance to him. He wants extent of land and 

 he wants this land to be fertile, but what is some- 

 times even more significant than these qualities is 

 the location of the farm which he is to cultivate. 

 In fact the physical and chemical characteristics 

 of the land are greatly influenced by its loca- 

 tion. Heat and moisture, and the character of 

 the rocks from which the soil is formed vary 

 greatly from place to place. But besides these 

 variations in the natural conditions, there are vari- 

 ations in the social conditions which influence the 

 production and sale of products. Large popula- 

 tions are in some places concentrated on small 

 areas, leaving vast territories sparsely settled. 

 This variation in the density of population may 



1 1. P. Roberts, The Fertility of the Land, p. 9. 

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